‘Small steps are truly worth it’: Philly-area residents discuss climate solutions at WHYY event

This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.

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The topic of climate change can be divisive, daunting and devastating, considering recent natural disasters nationwide: wildfires, drought and winter storms. Locally, more than 100 people gathered at WHYY’s headquarters in Center City Philadelphia Tuesday to learn about something more hopeful: the “Climate Fixers” in our midst.

The Climate Fixers event highlighted WHYY’s video series featuring “Climate Fixers” — a group of local citizens whose work lowers planet-warming emissions or other environmental impacts.

“Things seem very scary, and what can we do? Is it even worth it?” said Matt Siegfried, co-owner of Kensington-based Rabbit Recycling, a business that appears in the series. “I think we all came to an agreement that these small steps are truly worth it.”

The Climate Fixers’ ventures include a garden market that promotes a plant-based diet, an effort to grow warm-weather fruits like bananas in Philly and a company that uses natural dyes to slow down fast fashion. Attendees at Tuesday’s event watched the videos, talked with several of the Climate Fixers about their work and discussed other potential climate solutions that could be implemented locally.

“A lot of folks get discouraged and feel as though there’s really nothing they can do,” said WHYY News Editorial Director Jamila Bey. “But that is not at all the case.”

Highlighting ‘small incremental changes’

The Climate Fixers video series, funded by a PBS grant, aims to inspire people, said creator Susan Phillips, a senior reporter and editor with the WHYY News Climate Desk.

“People are tired of the doom and gloom,” Phillips said. “This … was a shift towards what people are doing and doing well in their community.”

Many of the businesses and organizations highlighted in the Climate Fixers series offer alternatives to conventional products that have lower environmental impacts — for example, a small organic sheep farm in Montgomery County that produces wool.

Another business in the series, Get Fresh Daily, offers locally grown produce, curated CSA boxes and wellness programming geared toward Black communities. Get Fresh Daily founder and director Jiana Murdic encourages people to eat plant-centric diets for health reasons — but cutting down on meat has big climate benefits, too.

“A lot of these conversations are about, … first of all, understanding the systems that we’re living in right now, starting to unravel it,” Murdic said. “People, regardless of their ZIP code and where they live, they do want to be a part of the solution, but we have to continue to create more infrastructure and support for them to be able to do so.”

Karen Melton, a retired IT professional turned climate activist, came to Tuesday’s event hoping to learn more about the businesses and organizations the featured Climate Fixers run. She’s already a customer of Rabbit Recycling, where she’s sent electronic waste and plastics that can’t go into Philly’s curbside recycling.

“I’m really interested to learn more about the orchard project, the flax project,” Melton said. “They all sound like wonderful businesses and just exactly the kind of businesses we need to be developing and supporting.”

Attendees discussed other solutions they’re working on or would like to see in their communities, including planting sunflowers, manufacturing environmentally friendly paint, eating seasonally and founding an EcoVillage.

To Pamia Coleman, co-founder of the Philly-based nonprofit Black Girls With Green Thumbs who attended Tuesday’s event, these types of small, local solutions are important. She focuses on growing the food her family eats and cutting down on online shopping.

“We’re always talking about these big changes,” Coleman said. “But I think when you’re approaching individuals and families, you want to talk about small incremental changes that you can make in your daily lifestyle that could have a larger impact.”

Building climate fixer connections

Many attendees used Tuesday’s event as an opportunity to connect with others who care about climate action.

“It really let me feel connected as a community,” said Wendi Wu, communications manager at the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership.

Bill Mettler, a volunteer with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, came to find a sense of enthusiasm. He’s been pushing state lawmakers to pass legislation that would enable community solar.

“It is a long and tedious effort to try to get change in this country,” he said.

Nadine Young, a retired lawyer and member of a community garden in Philadelphia’s Queen Village neighborhood, is shifting the focus of her climate activism from pushing to stop climate change to building resilience to its impacts within her community. She attended the event, in part, to find like-minded people.

“What I’m looking for is a new group of people to work with,” Young said.

WHYY plans to continue the Climate Fixers series, with additional videos and articles about residents of the Philadelphia region working on climate solutions. If you have an idea for a climate story, please share in the feedback form below.